


From being Perth's Prince to Melbourne's mediocrity

by fazcinatingreads



Category: AFL - Fandom, Carlton - Fandom, afl football, alex fasolo - Fandom, aussie rules, collingwood - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 5,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26771260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fazcinatingreads/pseuds/fazcinatingreads
Summary: The life of a champion of two AFL clubs who retired from elite sport way too early.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> With all the hub life stories and Jack watts mystery story, I thought I'd write one about Alex Fasolo (putting the FAZ in fazcinatingreads, obviously) but I may not bother continuing it.

It was a beautifully sunny day in Melbourne. Spring had sprung. The trees were glistening with rain from last night and the ground was sparkling with the morning dew. A man of medium height, brown hair, and black face mask - typical melburnian - walked his dog around the Merri Creek Trail on his usual daily walk before work.

After about an hour, he headed up to the main street at a slow pace with his dog Leo sniffing at every crack on the pavement. He eventually reached his favourite butcher shop. He picked up Leo and headed inside the butcher's, reluctant to leave Leo outside on the street, tied to a pole. Leo might feel abandoned and he didn't want his dog to feel like he'd been abandoned.

"Hey," he said to the butcher, "How's it going?"

"Hey," the butcher said, smiling and shrugging, "As good as it can be. You still going in to work at the juvy?"

"Yep," the man said, "it's good to help out where I can."

"You're a good man," the butcher said.

After a bit more small talk, he asked for some chuck steak and some pet mince, and the butcher weighed it up, the man took the bag, paid, and headed back out on the street.

A few shops down, he went into the fruit and veg store. He took a basket and expertly held Leo with one arm and the basket with the other. Luckily his previous occupation prepared him for the task of lifting heavy things. He picked some of the freshest fruit and vegetables and headed to the counter for the lady to package them up in recycled paper.

"How are you today?" the lovely woman behind the counter asked.

"Yeah yeah, just working and taking little Leo for walks," he replied, giving his dog a pat.

"Still running those therapy sessions?" she asked, as she quickly weighed each item.

"Nah, not lately," he said, shrugging, "It's hard, we're all just trying to forget what we've been through until we can get together again to talk it through."

The woman nodded and handed him his bags of groceries. "Have a nice day," she said, and took his money for the items.

He stepped out onto the street, holding all the groceries with Leo trotting along beside him. He thought about what to make for dinner that night, as they strolled along the main street. Maybe a red curry, using his new pressure cooker and a jar of curry sauce from the pantry. He walked quickly, eager to get home and dressed for the day at work. He was helping the boys with some remote learning this week and while tough, it felt very rewarding. Most of them seemed keen to learn the basic literacy and numeracy tasks set for them each day.

He knew a shortcut home and almost skipped down an alleyway, Leo panting happily beside him. He made a quick stop at the lolly shop and grab two bags of chocolate coated peanuts (his weakness), opening one bag as soon as he'd stepped out of the store. Leo looked at him excitedly but he shook his head, stuffing a handful of chocolates in his mouth. Yum. 

He continued on, past the quaint bookstore with the shiny reflecting glass that he sometimes checked his reflection in. His hair still looked okay as he brushed a few strands back and.... 

Wait.

He could see his reflection in the window, sure, nothing had changed about that.

But... that was also his FACE in the window.... on all the books lining the shelves... 

"ALEX FASOLO: THE UNTOLD STORY" blared each book in the window shelving, shouting at him, coursing in his ears. How could this have happened? He'd been so careful to shut down all offers of a book deal, to relive all those memories of his football career especially the horror he witnessed in his last year at the top level. No. This can't be happening.

(to be continued)


	2. Chapter 2

"Alex? Work called... again," Shae called into the lounge room. "Alex?" She padded into the room in ugg boots and trackie pants (classic WFH attire) holding the landline phone. Alex was sprawling face-down on the couch.

"Do you want to take it?" Shae asked, annoyed.

"Tell them I'm sick," Alex mumbled against the couch cushions, "Say i have covid."

Shae rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly," she said, but she said into the phone that Alex was sick, just as she had for the past 3 days, and hung up.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?" Shae asked, exasperatedly. All he'd mentioned when he came in from his morning walk three days ago and huffed "someone wrote a book about me" and lay on the couch. Which he hadn't moved from for THREE DAYS. Hadn't even come to bed. Or eaten dinner.

"Mmmph," Alex said.

"Look, you're looking at this the wrong way," she said, "you should be honoured someone's writing a book about you."

"No," Alex said, and flipped over on the couch, facing the ceiling. He put his hands on his forehead. "You don't get it. I can't have the story out there. Not while I'm still trying to process it all and get over it."

"Maybe if it's out there, the club will have to issue an apology for what happened," Shae said.

Alex shook his head, vigorously. "Noooo I have to lie low. I can't be the guy who brings shame upon the Carlton Football Club."

"Like you'd be the first," Shae said, snorting.

Alex shrugged and flipped over, burying his head against the cushions again.

"At least eat something?" Shae said, "I made lasagna last night. Your favourite."

"Bring it to me here," Alex said.

Shae warmed a serving of lasagna and brought the plate over to Alex. She placed it on the coffee table. "Say thank you," she said.

"Thank you," Alex mouthed, grabbing the plate and eating forkfuls of lasagna while still lying down. He made a mess all over their new couch and Shae huffed but said nothing and walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

"And look, there's a picture of a toilet," Alex said, gesturing to the picture book with his niece in his lap. They were sitting on the ground reading Dale Thomas' book about toilet training. "The little girl in the book is named Tilly too."

Tilly clapped and touched the page they were reading, flipping it over to the next page.

"Alex?" he heard Shae's angry voice as she marched into the room. "You haven't been to work all week! What's this?" She waved her arm at him and Tilly.

"Chill. I told them I was doing a bit of babysitting," Alex said, shrugging.

Shae got a glimpse of the book. "YOU'RE teaching a kid to toilet train?" she said, baffled, "Alex, you can't even toilet train yourself. 28 years and you can't pee straight."

Tilly giggled, and Alex turned a shade of red. He ignored her, and went on with reading the book to his niece.

Shae huffed and walked away.

After they finished reading, and Tilly's mum came to pick her up - Tilly clutching Daisy's book in her arms - Alex went into the dining room to find Shae trying to get some work done.

"You know... maybe I should write a book," he mused, taking a seat at the dining table.

"Uh huh," Shae said.

"I mean if Daisy can write one then why can't I?" Alex said. "I reckon I could write a picture book."

"You mean illustrate a picture book," Shae corrected.

"Well, yeah," Alex said, "I need a theme though. It needs to be informative, like Daisy's. I could teach kids how to surf in picture form."

Shae snorted. "You can't even surf."

Alex ignored her. "Maybe I could do a recipe book using my nonna's pasta recipes."

"You don't even cook anything your nonna made," Shae said, "You just make curries in your pressure cooker and eat 2-minute noodles."

"How about a picture book of how to be an AFL footballer," Alex said, "It could be like that book you gave me for Christmas - 144 rules for life."

"I'm not going to say no," Shae muttered.

Alex had his idea. Now he just needed to implement it.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex waited outside the door to the dining room, waiting for his girlfriend to finish her work meeting on Zoom. He was busting to show off his ideas for his new book as he lent his ear against the crack in the door. Finally, he heard her close her laptop. He bounded into the room.

"Look!" he said, flouncing down beside her at the table and putting his sheet of paper in front of her face, "I wrote some ideas down of rules for future footballers."

Shae took the piece of scrap paper and glanced through. "These are terrible," she said, frowning deeply, "I mean, some of these things you didn't even do! You just copied it from things that Jack Newnes has done."

Alex shrugged. "Where do you think he got it from?" 

"And this one - you just blatantly criticise your other successor Jaidyn Stephenson who wears long sleeves," Shae said, shaking her head.

"So? He's soft and looks uggo wearing them," Alex said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"There are misspellings everywhere," Shae said, "It doesn't even make sense. 'have the upmost respect for everyone at the club - from bootstudders etc' what's upmost?"

"It means up to the most," Alex said.

Shae just stared at him. "You mean utmost?" she said, "It's definitely utmost."

Alex just laughed. "No no, I assure you it's upmost," he said, "What's an ut?"

Shae flicked the paper back at Alex. "You know, that 144 rules for life, as well as being funny, they're also rules that make sense," she said, dismissively, going back to her work. "this is just... nonsense."

Alex snatched his paper up and stormed out of the room. He didn't even need her opinion. He could do this on his own.


	5. Chapter 5

"Alex! Dinner's ready!" Shae called, ladling out pumpkin soup into two bowls.

Alex came bounding into the room. "I've made so much progress on my book," he said, leaning on the kitchen island.

"Right," Shae said, pushing one of the bowls to Alex, "You do realise someone's already written a book about you. That's how we got into this whole mess."

"What mess?" Alex asked, naively, taking his bowl and sitting down at the table.

"You know, the fact that you haven't been to work in over a week and you spent the first few days moping around," she said, slurping her soup opposite him at the table.

Alex put a spoonful of soup in his mouth and then spat it quickly because it was too hot. "Well, I'm a writer now," he said, "Maybe I'll get some part time job as a bartender. Work night shifts. Write during the day."

"Bartending? The pubs are closed due to covid," Shae pointed out.

"When they open," Alex said, blowing on his soup and taking a tentative mouthful.

Shae rolled her eyes. "Whenever that is," she said, "Why don't you read the book that you saw in the shop. Maybe your book that you write could fill in the gaps they missed."

"Writers don't read," Alex informed her, "We write."

"You're an idiot," she muttered, eating her soup. 

They both finished their soups in silence and then Alex headed back to the room which they used as a storage/junk room but he converted it into his office. There were unopened boxes from the recent move piled high in the tiny space and he was using a few of the boxes as a desk, and one box as a chair. He was hard at work on his ideas for the book, a candle flickering next to him to give him light as the room had no windows. 

A knock sounded on the door which made him jump, and Shae waltzed in. "I just went for a walk and bought this," she said, slapping a heavy book down on his makeshift desk.

Alex stared at the book. ALEX FASOLO: THE UNTOLD STORY glared at him innocuously from the cover. He grimaced and pushed it away. "No thank you." He went back to writing and sketching some ideas.

Shae huffed and left the room. 

After a minute or so, curiosity got the better of him. Alex got up, locked the door, and started reading the biography about him.


	6. Chapter 6

"I think Fazzy will have a strawberry tea today," Alex said, picking out a pink tea bag from the box of teas in the pantry. He filled up the kettle and flicked the on switch, then grabbed his favourite mug from the cupboard.

Shae came in the room, and picked a camomile tea from the same box. "You still not going into work?" she asked.

"I spent the past few days reading that book," Alex said, as he skimmed his finger around the rim of the mug. "It's very detailed. Covers everything."

"What?" Shae asked, "Who wrote it?"

"It doesn't say," Alex said, "There's no publishing details, or about the author section, or any contact details!"

"But who gave the copies to that decrepit old comic book store?" Shae asked.

"Wait, that's a COMIC book store?" Alex asked, forgetting about the kettle and staring at Shae. 

Shae rolled her eyes. "Considering you only think of it as "the window that provides the best reflection", I'm surprised you knew it sold books." She grabbed the kettle and poured it in her mug.

Alex grabbed the kettle, annoyed, and poured hot water into his mug. His hand shook and water sloshed everywhere.

"Look, the guy who runs it... he's slightly creepy. Also he probably accepts all books from anywhere and anyone, clearly to drum up more business," Shae said, knowledgeably.

"We have to know WHO," Alex said, taking his tea and a packet of Tim Tams to the table and sitting down.

"Can I read it first?" Shae asked, sitting opposite him at the table, "Before we go smashing down a poor man's comic book store and demanding answers."

"Yeah, yeah, go for it," Alex said, waving his hand dismissively. He was already thinking of a plan to smash down the man's door and demand answers.

Shae jumped, ran to Alex's makeshift office, and came back, plonking herself down and reading. They were both silent for the next 2 hours, Alex sipping his tea and mindlessly making his way through a packet of Tim Tams, and Shae wholly focused on the book.


	7. Chapter 7

Alex was absentmindedly drawing circles on a piece of paper in his makeshift office, thinking of whether he preferred soy or almond milk in his lattes. The cafe down the road did really good lattes with soy milk, but he felt some loyalty to the cafe near his old house, who introduced him to almond milk and it was really delicious. He stared at the candle on the box he was using as a desk and watched it flicker and slowly melt the wax.

The door burst open and Alex turned toward it. "Hey, we should make soy candles," he burst out quickly.

Shae stood at the door and blinked, holding a book against her chest. "I..." she said, blinking again in confusion.

"Soy candles," Alex said again, slower this time. "I just thought of it." He beamed proudly.

Shae shook her head. "I finished the book," she said, moving closer and giving Alex the book. His book. No, not his. The book someone wrote of him. "It really is detailed. But... but how could they know all that? Is it all true?"

"Yeah," Alex said, staring despondently at the book, now sitting innocuously in his lap.

"Did you really throw up with anxiety before your first game for East Fremantle?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Maybe it was someone from your therapy classes," Shae suggested.

"What?" Alex asked, shocked, and stared at his girlfriend.

"The person who wrote it. You've been running therapy for other carlton victims for over a year now, one of the participants in that could've gathered enough info for a book," she said, shrugging.

"No!" Alex said, scowling, "That's a break of our trust! Those guys are my friends, we've made a pact!"

"Alright, alright, just an idea," Shae said, sighing.

Alex grunted and said nothing.

"Could there have been cameras in the room? Hidden mic?" Shae said, "A spy?"

"I'm telling you, definitely not!!" Alex said, adamantly.

"We could go there tonight and sneak in," Shae said, conspiratorially, "Scour the room from top to bottom."

"Yeah, to prove you're wrong," Alex said, annoyed.

"We'll leave here at 10pm," Shae said, taking a few steps toward the door. "No curfew. We can stop by that Thai takeout you love for dinner."

"Now you're talking," Alex mumbled as Shae walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

The clock ticked over to 10pm and Alex and Shae closed their front door behind them, jiggling it a few times to make sure it was locked. Alex stopped on the porch to unchain his bike from the railing.

"Alex? What are you doing?" Shae asked, opening the door of her blue Mercedes and turning back to look at her boyfriend on the porch.

"Getting my bike," Alex muttered back, fiddling with the bike lock.

"We have a car! Hurry up and get in," Shae called, getting in the driver's seat and winding down the window.

"YOU have a car," Alex said. "I'm environmentally friendly." He had his bike untied and was wheeling it toward the footpath.

"No, you just can't afford a car because your soy candle business hasn't taken off," Shae said, rolling her eyes. "Are we going to race each other there?"

"Sure, sweetheart," Alex replied, jumping on his bike and pedalling away.

Shae gave him a 5 minute headstart and then backed out of the driveway and ended up overtaking the poor guy at the roundabout. She made it to the old broken-down building where the therapy classes were run, sat in the shadows at the entrance, and lit up a cigarette. There was a playground next door, all roped off and abandoned, and the whole place had a really sad feel. Obviously no one had been here since lockdown 4.0 was issued.

Ten minutes and a few cigarettes later, Alex pulled up on his bike and took off his helmet, shaking his hair out like he was in a Pantene commercial, despite his hair being only a few centimetres long. He looked at her and suddenly wrinkled his nose. "What brand is that?" he asked, disgusted.

"Yeah, alright, I ran out of the clove ones," she muttered, tossing a half-used cigarette on the ground.

Alex produced a key from his back pocket and headed straight for the front door, Shae right behind in. Alex unlocked the door, looking around to make sure no one saw, and they both crept in, closing the door behind them.

"Okay," Shae said, looking around in the pitch black hallway, "Where do we start?"

"The therapy room," Alex said, as if it was obvious. He switched on the torch on his phone and they moved quietly down the hallway until they reached a door with another lock.

"Your therapy room has a lock?" Shae asked, surprised at the security of the building.

"ALL these rooms have a lock," Alex said, producing another key and inserting it into the door. "Can't trust anyone around here."

They went in and flicked on the light. Alex and Shae stood in the centre of the room, back to back, looking around at the walls, the ceiling, the floor... everywhere.

"Well," Alex said, "everything looks normal."

"Yeah," Shae said, "not a single piece of technology anywhere."

She was not wrong about that. The room was bare, just some dusty old chairs in a circle on the rotted and dusty floorboards. Nothing on the walls except cracks and flakes of paint coming off it.

"Wait what's that?" Alex said, walking toward one of the larger cracks in the wall.

"A crack in the wall," Shae answered dryly, and followed him as he peered into the crack.

He tapped on the crack lightly, and then rapped his knuckles forcefully on it. Shae screamed and jumped back as the crack opened wider and plaster rained down on them.

"There could be asbestos in here!" Shae yelped. "It causes cancer!"

"So does smoking," Alex said, dryly.

He peered into the wall and pulled out a tape recorder and a microphone which were covered in dust and bits of plaster. Alex shook them off and stared at them in shock, speechless.

"What the..." Shae whispered.

Alex wiped off the dust to reveal the word ZOO. "Is this from the... from the zoo?" Alex asked, "I work near the zoo... maybe..."

"You used to work near the zoo," Shae reminded him, "You haven't been in over a week, remember?"

"Shhh," Alex said, thinking hard, "The zoo..."

Shae reached over and brushed more dust off around the word. Another letter appeared. Z. The word now read ZOOZ.

"What the hell is a zooz?" Alex yelled, forgetting all about the zoo and which animal he nearly put on his suspect list.


	9. Chapter 9

"Zooz... zooz... zooz..." Alex muttered in his sleep later that night.

"Are you awake or asleep?" Shae muttered back, still unable to tell the difference between his sleep-talking and the way he talks to himself to get to sleep.

"I'm counting zooz's," Alex whispered into the dark. 

"How many did you get up to?"

"Three."

"Quite a lot of them."

"I could take them in a fight." Alex shrugged and rolled over.

Shae rolled over too, their backs toward each other.

....

Dawn broke, and Alex got up to cook smashed avo and eggs like usual. He ate it all, and was just putting the plates with the crusts on the ground for Nick and Leo when Shae came in the room, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Oh, you're back to a normal breakfast," she noted. "Are you going to work?"

"Yeah," Alex said, "I think they'll have missed me."

"Doubt it," Shae muttered, flicking on the kettle and spooning two teaspoons of instant coffee into a mug.

Alex shrugged and grabbed the dogs' leashes. "I'll take both these guys out for a run around the golf course," he said, clipping the leashes to their collars.

"Last walk before the golfers reclaim their land," Shae replied, laughing.

The dogs and Alex walked to the front door, where Alex grabbed a fresh mask and pulled it over his mouth and nose, twisting the strings at the side. They went out the front door and across the road to the golf course, a large patch of grass positioned conveniently close to them. It would be a shame when they'd have to go back to the normal dog park or walk that boring Merri Creek Trail again.

As Alex walked the fairways and covered all his dogs' little divots with the bucket of sand he carried, he thought about zooz. It was a funny word. It should be ZOO. With the animals. Or zoos as in multiple zoos each with a different set of animals. He thought about all his friends in his therapy group. That kid who only lasted a few months at Carlton. Or the one who was stuck there for years and couldn't leave. They just kept passing him paper bag after paper bag. He had a gambling problem and needed the money desperately. If only he knew back then that there were other options.

Wait.

The guy that only lasted a few months.

He had another option.

He was an influenza. Oh, what was his name? He was always sending emails before trainings and was last on the hill sprints. Even after one of Alex's big benders on the weekends, Alex still managed to beat the guy on the hill sprints. And every other training drill. The guy was a pest. An annoying fly that won't stop talking, like a bug... a... wait, that's it. Bugg! Alex made note of the name and made a mental note to look him up when he got back home.


	10. Chapter 10

Shae plonked down on the couch next to Alex, who was typing frantically on his laptop.

"Are you just googling his name?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"This is a private investigation," Alex muttered, angling the screen away from her.

"Some investigation," Shae said, "You just typed in his name on google."

Alex didn't say anything and just scrolled through the search options. 

"Can't you just call him and ask?" Shae suggested, "He's your friend, isn't he?"

"Technically, no," Alex said distractedly, "Yes, we formed the therapy group for victims of carlton together but he never comes to meetings or has any real input. He's always gallivanting around L.A."

"But he's an influencer?" Shae said, "Maybe he's promoting the group. In a good way."

"But we don't need promotion," Alex said, shaking his head, "And he's a MANAGER of influencers." He focused on the screen and typed out an email to the address he found on Bugg's instagram account.

Shae just watched him typing, narrowed eyes, thinking hard.

Alex looked up. "Did you want to proofread the email?" he asked his girlfriend.

"I'm sure it's fine," she said, shrugging, and wandered off to the dining table to go on with her work.

Alex hit send, and leant back on the couch. The waiting game begins. He picked up a notebook and started doodling drawings for his own book while he waited for Tomas to get back to him.


	11. XI

"You need to read this," Alex said, jumping up from the couch and heading over to the printer. He waited for the email to print out, grabbed it and then sat next to Shae where she was busy working.

Shae sighed and looked at him. "What is it."

"Okay, i got this email from Tomas Bugg," Alex said. He read from the printout of the email. ""Dear Alex, it was nice to receive an email from a fan. As this is quite a busy time, I haven't really had time to read your email but wish you all the best with your studies. Kind regards, Tomas Bugg."" He stared at Shae, eyes wide, incredulous.

"Okay," Shae said. "What did you write him?"

"All I said was that I wanted to get a coffee with him," Alex said.

"So..." Shae said, "Does he remember you? I mean, I guess you only knew him for a few months at Carlton. He mightn't know who you are."

"What? How could he not know who I am? I'm... I am... hey, even that disgraced cricketer from Perth knows who i am!" Alex said, indignantly.

"Well, now you're sounding as egotistical as Tomas Bugg," Shae said, shaking her head and focusing on her laptop again. She went silent as she typed on the keyboard, pursing her lips in concentration.

Alex pouted. "Am not." 

Shae didn't reply.

"I'll reply back to him and explain who I am," Alex said, mostly to himself. "I'll tell him we were teammates at Carlton. That'll get his attention."

"He's probably repressed all memories of Carlton," Shae murmured.

"Well, if he bothered to show up for therapy, he wouldn't need to," Alex said, standing up and walking back to the couch. He sat down and hunched over the laptop. He typed out an essay explaining exactly who he was, with pictures and stats and links to his Facebook and Twitter. Then added his original line of "let's have coffee" and added a time, place, and a few smiley faces. There. He'll have to respond to that.


	12. Cafe Musings

"You know," Shae said, stirring her soy chai latte absentmindedly, "Maybe these rules for footballers you're writing... you could finish with saying to throw out the list after reading because you don't play by rules."

"What?" Alex asked, looking up from the the picture he was scrawling on a napkin.

"I said..." Shae said, then shrugged. A waiter placed her smashed avo and eggs in front of her which took all her attention. "Never mind."

"Thanks," Alex said as the waiter put his burger and chips in front of him. The waiter left.

"What would be the point of writing the rules if you just discard them?" Alex asked, munching on a chip.

"Well, that's the plot twist," Shae said, "All good books have a twist."

Alex shook his head. "I don't know..." he said, picking up his burger and taking a big bite. He chewed thoughtfully.

"Did you hear back from Tomas Bugg?" Shae asked, taking a bite of her eggs.

"No," Alex said, scowling, his mouth full.

"It doesn't even matter," Shae said, dismissively, "The book he may or may not have written wasn't even bad! It paints you in a good light."

"Yes, but it's the principle!" Alex said, indignantly, food flying out of his mouth.

Shae went to wipe the spit off the table using the napkin Alex was drawing on. Alex snatched it from her hand. "Hey!" he yelled.

"Gee sorry," Shae said, taking a new napkin to wipe up his spit. "It's a few stick figures."

"Picasso drew something on a napkin in a café and now it's worth millions," Alex said.

Shae rolled her eyes. "You're no Picasso."

"I'm an artist," Alex replied.

"Thought you were an author," Shae muttered.

"That too," Alex said, shrugging. "Like a triple threat."


	13. Chapter 13

"I wanted you to read the first rough draft of my book," Alex said proudly, holding Leo in his lap.

"Sure," Alex's brother Lewis said, balancing a stack of pages on his knee, sitting opposite Alex in the lounge room.

"What do you think?" Alex said, nervously.

"Well, I only just started," Lewis said, "hey, you dedicated it to me! "To Lewis, these rules are dedicated to you because if you'd read them back when we are at East Freo, you could've been an AFL footballer too". Thanks?"

Alex shrugged. "You're welcome," he said, modestly.

Lewis kept flicking through the pages thoughtfully. Alex's leg bounced up and down and Leo jumped off his lap, running down the hall. Soon after, Alex jumped up too and chased Leo around the house. They did that for hours, doing laps around an annoyed Shae who was trying to get work done.

Alex and Leo ran back into the lounge room, both jumping on the couch and lying at opposite ends, breathing heavily.

"What's this rule about "team work makes the dream work"?" Lewis asked, confused, "What would you know about team work? You never passed the ball if you had it in the forward 50."

"Well, they can learn from my mistakes," Alex said, shrugging.

"But..." Lewis started to protest and then shook his head. "Alright."

Alex waited a beat and then asked, "So? What do you think?"

"Well, it's definitely rough," Lewis conceded, "But I think you have yourself a book."

Alex jumped up, causing Leo to startle and bark at him. "WE HAVE A BOOK," Alex yelled, launching himself at his brother and hugging him tightly, crushing some of the pages between them.


End file.
